An alliance of 800 disability advocates and ethical designers are calling for mandatory disability access in new homes.

Key points:

Alliance call for minimum access to be included in Australian building code

They say it will only add $1000 to construction costs

Housing Industry Association say they prefer decision to be voluntary

The alliance says Australia must do better as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and they have submitted a formal proposal for a change to building regulations.

Margaret Ward, an architect and the convenor of the Australian Network for Universal Housing Design, said the alliance has called for minimum access to be included in the Australian building code, now called the National Construction Code.

"There's an estimate that 91 per cent of dwellings built will have someone either visit or live in it that will require [disability] access in the lifetime of that dwelling," Ms Ward said.

She said it would only add $1,000 to the cost of construction to have one entry and one bathroom wheelchair accessible, and some wider corridors and doorways.

Robbie Carr was a carpenter who in his 20s began dropping his tools and was soon diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

His mother, Heather Roman, said she struggled to find a home his wheelchair could enter.

"That has been so hard. We tried to find houses that had wide doors, were low to the ground or had a ramp. [It was] nearly impossible," Ms Roman said.

Mr Carr, now 37, said he could not visit the homes of most of his family members and friends.

"It definitely sucks because I want to go there obviously, [but they] don't have access to wheelchairs," he said. "They don't think about us."

One size doesn't fit all: Housing Industry Association

Kristin Brookfield, from the Housing Industry Association, said regulations were not the answer.

"We [would] much prefer seeing a voluntary approach," she said.

"Our preference is that we educate our members and we educate consumers, home buyers and the disability community itself, on what are some simple solutions that could be included in homes, and letting that consumer choose."

Ms Brookfield said accessibility for people with disabilities should not be mandatory because "it goes to the issue of the one size doesn't fit all".

"The disability of someone in a wheelchair is completely different to somebody who is blind," she said.